Firstly, I’m glad Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin took my advice and that of the consultants and eliminated the sustainability department and some middle management positions.
Still, there’s lots more budget fat to cut before tax increases will match the inflation rate.
Secondly, the code of conduct proposed by Mayor Fortin was totally unnecessary, unless his hope was to continue to muzzle council and stifle debate.
In the end, it was a short-lived legacy from the office of the recently departed city manager.
Thirdly, the new shared bus and bike lane for Douglas Street is a perfect compromise – no one will be happy and I predict it will be a complete failure in its proposed million-dollar configuration.
Commuter behaviour will not be changed.
Even cyclist and former city Coun. John Luton, in a CBC radio interview, damned it with faint praise.
Better to have an High Occupancy Vehicle lane in each direction for buses and vehicles with two or more persons during the commute hours, and allow traffic-aware cyclists to take their chances.
And forget light rapid transit – we just can’t afford it.
Tony Beckett
Victoria